I must say that I agree with the points that John made in his first-reader post entitled, “Can Games Change Reality?” As far as I am concerned, video games are quite capable of creating the illusion of an alternate reality. While some people may believe that video games are nothing more than…well…video games, I am one of the people who thinks that video games can do so much more than provide a brief session of entertainment. Indeed, in his book, How to Do Things with Video Games, Bogost made it very clear that there are a number of things for which video games can be used, other than just fun.

John briefly mentioned SimCity in his post. SimCity 4 is an excellent example of a game that can transfer somebody to a different reality. The game allows the player to assume the role of the mayor of a budding town or city. The player is allowed to do almost anything that could be done in a real-life city, including constructing vast transportation networks; developing enormous residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural zones; and controlling various things such as recreation, education, utilities, and taxes. Perhaps the best part of the game is being allowed to summon catastrophic natural disasters to obliterate your city and terrorize the citizens that dwell within it. The designers spared absolutely no expense to ensure that the game was as realistic as possible. The point is that if one were to play SimCity 4 for a long enough period of time, he or she may suddenly enter a state in which the game seems real.

As a civil engineering major who finds great enjoyment in playing games like this that deal with urban planning and development, I may be speaking for myself when I say that SimCity 4 is capable of transferring one to a different reality. I honestly believe that everybody could identify himself or herself with a specific video game that transports him or her to what seems like another world.